Come Back To Me
by ColourInfinity
Summary: Ron disappeared, and is still unaccounted for, in an attack 6 weeks ago. Hermione regrets never telling him how she felt. Will she get the chance? (Hermione's POV.) *Complete* Please R&R!!!


Disclaimer: J.K.R. rocks the house, and owns everything in it.  
  
You know what's funny? I'll be listening to a song, write down a quote from that song, get and idea for a fic from that song, and the end result has nothing to do with that song. This was conceived while trying to get the song 'Emotionless' (Good Charlotte, Great song) out of my head so that I could fall asleep. What can I say, it worked!  
  
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It's been a month and a half since you went on that one-day trip. You were supposed to be back by the next day. But, once again, You-Know-Who took something wonderful away.  
  
You were supposed to be back the next day.  
  
My heart aches for you. I never got to say what I needed to tell you. I curse myself for not speaking my thoughts, my emotions. I curse myself for letting you go without letting you know.  
  
Some days I just stayed in bed and cried. Some days I walked aimlessly around the school for hours at a time. Everyday, I sat by the window, hoping and praying that you would be walking through the portrait hole again.  
  
I couldn't bear it when they told us. What did the Ministry know anyway? Presumed dead. No hope. I didn't want to believe them. I didn't want to acknowledge you wouldn't be coming back from that trip. I waited for you. I waited for you to return. But, the days soon turned to weeks.  
  
I waited for you. I still am.  
  
They told me you must have died in the attack. They told me the Death Eaters had tortured and killed many. They told me that few escaped; that fewer survived. They told me to move on.  
  
But I couldn't move on. Not without you by my side.  
  
After a week or so, I started to go back to classes again. But my schoolmates saw that I'd changed in my week away. I had no energy. I never smiled. I drowned myself with extra work. But my heart wasn't in it.  
  
My heart was elsewhere. My heart was with you.  
  
Summer came a few days later, and the school year ended. I managed to just pass my exams. The ride home should have been a happy time for me. But I wasn't happy at all. There was still no news; my hope was beginning to dwindle. But I still believed I'd get you back. I needed to get you back.  
  
I needed you to make me smile again. I needed you to make me laugh.  
  
Harry, I could tell, was just as upset as I was. Voldemort had taken his family, and now his best friend as well. We both needed to talk about it, but neither of us could. It was still too painful. And talking about it would have been like giving up hope; like giving in to what the Ministry was telling us.  
  
Dumbledore worried about us, I knew. He sent someone from the Ministry to talk to me. They explained what had happened as best they could. They said that the camp had been ambushed. They said the Ministry officials had arrives as quickly as possible, but by then it was too late. The battle was over. I say 'battle'. A better word would be 'massacre'. You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters had slaughtered nearly fifty innocent students from all over the world. Many more were injured. They think some may have escaped into a nearby forest, but they say there couldn't have been time. Many people were still unaccounted for. Like you.  
  
I knew what he said was true. But my heart didn't believe you were dead. I couldn't believe you were dead.  
  
So here I am. Waiting. Mum worries for me. I worry for me. I wish I'd never convinced you to take that trip. But I knew you wanted a job with the Daily Prophet, and this was the perfect seminar for that. Why did I convince you to go? You'd never have been near the camp. You'd never have been near You- Know-Who's attack.  
  
You never would have had to leave me.  
  
I loved you. I wanted to tell you before. I've wanted to tell you forever. I wanted you to know. I loved you.  
  
Look at me. 'Loved'. My heart has begun to doubt. Even as I sit here, I'm losing hope. I watch from the window as the rain patters against the house. I still have faith in you. I still have hope that you will come back to your friends, your family. To me.  
  
You have to come back. You must. You can't leave me alone here forever.  
  
My eyes grow heavy. I knew I shouldn't have stayed up so late yesterday. Before I can even convince myself to go to bed, my eyes droop closed, and I'm lost in the world of dreams.  
  
*  
  
When I awake once more, I see that the rain has stopped. I sit up in my chair, and peer outside. The stars are out; I can see because the clouds have all gone away. It's a clear night. A night like the one when you went away. Dammit, why did I convince you to take that trip?  
  
"Hermione? Are you okay, dear?" I hear mum ask from behind me. I quickly dry my eyes.  
  
"Yes, mum, I'm fine," I lie. I try to hold back my tears.  
  
"Well, if you're feeling alright, there's someone here to see you." There was a slight smile in her voice. But I couldn't . . .  
  
"Please, I'm not really up for company right now." I have to close my eyes to keep the tears from streaming down.  
  
"I guess we'll just have to talk tomorrow then," a voice says. My heart skips a beat. I'm too afraid to turn around. I freeze, staring unseeingly at the window.  
  
"Please don't let this be some cruel joke," I whisper, half to myself, half to the boy who stands behind me. Opening my eyes I catch a glimpse of the reflection in the window. He puts his hand on my shoulder, and I look up into the face I know and love.  
  
Before you could bat an eye, I was out of my chair with my arms around him.  
  
"Ron! Oh my God, is it really you? I've missed you so much! They told me you were dead! I didn't want to believe them, but it's been so long, and . . . oh, my God, I've missed you so much! They told me you were dead . . ."  
  
My tears are flowing freely now, but not as they would have minutes before. Ron holds me closer.  
  
"I know, I know. It's okay, I'm here now. I'm okay, except for my leg, I'm alright."  
  
For the first time in a month and a half, my heart is light. For the first time since I was told Ron had disappeared, I'm smiling. For the first time in a long time, I feel joy, real, true happiness. I knew he was alive, I knew he would never leave me. Deep down, I knew I would be able to hold him in my arms again. Deep down, I knew I would be able to tell him what I've been meaning to for so long.  
  
"What happened?" I ask, as mum steers us towards the couch, then goes off to make some cocoa.  
  
"My leg was broken in the attack. I managed to get away from the ambush, but I couldn't get far with my leg, it was bleeding and everything. I remember escaping into the woods but I collapsed before I could get any further. A couple of muggles found me, and took me to a hospital. I didn't have any identification, or anything, and my wand was back at my dorm at the camp." He ran his hand through his hair, and looked sideways at me. "It took a long time for me to recover. Can you believe it takes six weeks to heal bones for them? Anyway, I couldn't get a message to anyone in the wizarding world, not with muggles coming in and out of the room all the time."  
  
I understood. I was in the hospital once before, and there was always at least one nurse or other walking in and out of the room.  
  
"As soon as my leg healed, I left the hospital and made my way back home. I only got back to the burrow a few hours ago, and after mum calmed down, I came straight here. Harry was there too, and he told me how sick with worry you've been. My leg is still kind of weak; the muggle doctor told me it was because I hadn't used any of the muscles for awhile . . ."  
  
He trailed off. Looking at me with a tear in his eyes, Ron took a deep, wavering breath.  
  
"I'm sorry, 'Mione."  
  
This surprised me.  
  
"What for?"  
  
"For making you worry. I would have gotten word to you, but I couldn't even move from my bed. I can't imagine what you must have gone through for the past month and a half. I know my mum had almost given up hope . . ."  
  
"No, she didn't, Ron! None of us ever doubted you'd come back! We always had hope, even when people tried to tell us otherwise."  
  
I look at him and smile. On impulse, I lean over, and kiss him. I could tell he was surprised. I was surprised!  
  
I pulled away, self-conscious of myself, but we were both grinning anyway. In the six years we've known each other, we've never kissed, choosing instead to stay friends. Best friends. With, maybe, some feelings for each other. Maybe.  
  
"Why was Harry at the Burrow?" I ask, if only to break the silence.  
  
"Oh, I have a feeling he was visiting Ginny. Though I'm sure he'll deny it."  
  
Silence.  
  
Not awkward.  
  
Not uncomfortable.  
  
Just silence.  
  
Mum chose that moment to bustle in with a tray of cocoa and cookies. Seeing us, she smiled knowingly, placed the tray on the table, and escaped back to the kitchen with dad.  
  
No 17 year olds can hide true love from a mother. Especially my mother.  
  
Ron and I took the opportunity to snuggle closer together. I fell asleep again, but this time, I felt safe, happy. Ron's arm around me was the most comfort I'd had in the longest time. With all that had happened, we knew that our title of 'best friends' would soon be long gone.  
  
I'm sure mum and dad - who were trying to inconspicuously look in on us from the hall - would agree when I say that a more appropriate one would be 'young, and in love'.  
  
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Sorry if that made absolutely no sense, but I wanted a happy ending. It turned out a lot different then I originally planned.  
  
If you review, you get a cookie!! 


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